


Take It Hours at a Time

by Blink23



Category: In the Heights - Miranda
Genre: M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-17
Updated: 2017-12-15
Packaged: 2019-02-03 17:39:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12753036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blink23/pseuds/Blink23
Summary: A bunch of short interludes about Sonny and Pete attempting to navigate growing up after figuring out they’re soulmates as children.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So basically, I had intended to make this one big long multi-chapter thing. In the end all that would come to me were these tiny little scenes of Pete and Sonny being cute, so they're being posted as such.

Most people think meeting your soulmate at six would make things easy.

In reality, it’s terrifying. Sonny doesn’t even fully get it when he learns about what he’s supposed to do if he has the words on his body said to him (find an adult, tell them what’s happened) too young to understand love or anything outside of his fire escape and the tiny dining room Mamá converted into his bedroom, too poor to afford the rent for two.

Then Mamá gets sick, and is gone in three months, and Papá can’t handle him, too nosey, too loud, too smart for his own good, so he ends up with Tío and Tía and Abuela Claudia picking up whatever slack they miss, no one from school willing to question when she shows up for Christmas pageants and parent night.

So life goes on, and Sonny doesn’t think about love, or soulmates, or the stupid letters on his calf, too concerned with not thinking about how much he misses his Mamá and what school work he missed when he had her funeral.

Then Petey Ramos from two streets up from the Bodega splits his knuckles for punching out the kid laughing at his hair for being too girly. Sonny’s never actually talked to Petey since he’s almost a whole three years older, but Petey does it without thinking twice, just drops his markers and notebook and marches right up to him in the cafeteria one day when they’re having indoor recess, like it’s nothing, like this kid he’s never known is worth it.

Sonny’s also never been in the office before, but he’s brought in to explain what happened. The other kid goes first, and Sonny sits quietly with Petey, kicking his legs out and hoping he doesn’t miss social studies, since it’s his favorite class.

“He’s stupid,” Pete says suddenly, his arms folded across his chest, “Your hair is pretty like that.”

Sonny freezes, his mind going blank and his heart hurting. Those are his words, the ones that sit in little crooked letters on his leg, the same ones that made sure he never fussed when Mamá would comb out his curls.

“My Mamá liked it like this,” is what he blurts out and then cringes, embarrassed. Pete doesn’t seem to think they’re bad, though, since he’s looking at him like he’s the most amazing thing he’s ever seen.

“You’re my soulmate.”

Sonny nods, biting his lip. Of course that’s when the principal decides she can see him.

“Peter, come on now, son.”

“He’s my soulmate!” is all Pete says, practically shouting in excitement, and the principal goes from stern to horrified in less than a second.


	2. Chapter 2

Things change once everyone finds out. People start whispering whenever they see Sonny, teachers and parents and students and customers at the store. Kids notice him more, and start to pick on him more, but this time it's serious and personal, less childish teasing. It doesn’t last for long, though; kids realize Pete is in his corner, and Pete is vicious, and angry, and his fists seem like a good outlet. Sonny gets called by Pete’s Papá more than once to coax Pete out of a mood, to tug him off the ledge. 

They become friends, always having each other’s backs, always jumping fist first into a fight. Sonny keeps him away from the shit he shouldn’t get into, a constant reminder that he has someone else he has to worry about, that he’s meant for something more besides the nefarious shit some of his friends do. 

It’s not romantic, not really (not yet.) It doesn’t stop people from starting rumors and talking shit, especially once puberty kicks in. When all most guys want to do is find someone that will give them the time of day, and when every girl he know goes crazy over terrible ideas of what a relationship should be, he’s regarded as lucky, talked about in a way that it makes it obvious what they think he and Pete are getting up to at night. 

(The whole thing just shows how stupid they are, in Sonny's opinion. As if Tía and Tío just let him spend the night. As if Usnavi wouldn’t stand over Sonny’s bed and glare at Pete's every move even if they did.)

It gets worse when they start learning about it in school, when the Sex Ed segment of health class starts bringing up soulmates and saving yourself for them, and people stare at him and snicker behind their hands. He makes sure to complain about how unfair it is to Pete whenever he can, knowing full well that when Pete had to go through it no one said shit because Sonny was so young.

It comes to a head freshman year, when he’s pulled to the front of the class and asked to explain what it’s like to have a soulmate. He spends an hour sitting there red faced and embarrassed and angry, all because his teacher is an idiot. He skips out with Pete after, lying around in the tall grass of an empty lot as Pete paints and bitching about it.

“...Everyone kept staring at me, like, with a smirk on their face, waiting for me to say shit ‘cause they all think we’ve been fucking since I was like, ten-”

Pete made a face at the thought, his eyes never leaving his canvas.

“Right!? Like whatever, I get it, but just ‘cause you find your soulmate as a kid doesn’t mean you’re ready. I want to be ready, and I know you’ll wait.”

“Obviously.”

Sonny sighs, flopping back against the ground. School's been let out by now, and he doesn’t have to help around the store for another few hours. While he should be doing homework or whatever, watching Pete paint seems like a better idea. He hasn’t quite gotten the hang of the jump from art class canvases to whole walls yet, but he’s still pretty good. He’s only 17, he’s got time to improve, especially since some people have apparently been interested in actually paying him for painting.

“Where’d you get the paints, anyway?”

“Julio,” Pete shrugs, “apparently they’re the shit he uses at the electric company to mark lines or whatever. He gave me a few extras he had.”

“He just gave you them?”

Pete pauses, looking at Sonny. There’s a stripe of neon blue over his eyebrow, and he’s gonna have to wash up before Tía sees him, since she’ll be able to sniff out what he’s actually painting. He tugs the mask off his face, and licks at the sweat on his upper lip.

“Well he… I dunno. He started asking what it’s like, having everyone know you’re mine. I told him it’s pretty fucking cool, you know? Like… having someone who gives a shit all the time, but doesn’t have to, not like my Pops. I like it.”

...And there it is, the warm, jittery feeling in his stomach, the one that always hits when he’s reminded Pete is his. Pete glances back at the wall, biting his lip.

“You think he’s got a dude for a soulmate?”

“I dunno, Nené. Maybe.”

“I know Yesenia isn’t his soulmate. They’re just fucking.”

“I don’t know who though. He’s only around her or-”

“Hey!”

“Shit!” Sonny hisses, shoving himself to his feet. Pete shoves the two cans in his hands into his bag before grabbing Sonny’s hand and running.

“You didn’t check for security?”

“This place has been abandoned for like three years! I didn’t think anyone would care.”

Sonny ducks into a stairwell that’s missing a door, dragging Pete up a flight to the next landing. He shoves him back, crowding up against him, pressing close to make them as small as possible in the dark and hopefully not visible from the bottom of the stairs, since the next flight is crumbing and he doesn’t trust it. They’ve never been pressed close like this but Sonny’s not really paying attention to that, more concerned with his breathing being regulated so his gasping doesn’t tip the guy off to where him and Pete are hiding. 

And then Pete’s mouth lands on his. 

He freezes for a fraction of a second before one hand slides up to cup the back of Pete’s head as his mouth opens. Pete huffs out a breath, his hands running up and down his back, his jaw and tongue working.

They hear the guard at the bottom of the stairs and both freeze, their lips still pressed together. Pete’s hands tighten in his t-shirt for a moment until the guard swears loudly and walks back to the exit, only loosening when the jangle of his keys disappears down and away from them. 

Sonny untangles himself from Pete to check but Pete isn’t having it, instead his hands falling to Sonny’s waist as he holds him from behind.

The side of the building is seemingly abandoned and they both bolt, laughing as they head back to the bodega, and Sonny realizes holy shit, he might be in love.


	3. Chapter 3

Tía and Tío De La Vega get sick a few weeks before Sonny's 15th birthday and are gone within weeks of each other. It's absolutely devastating, if he's being honest. His mom dying was horrible, but she had been sick for so long that when she passed it was almost a blessing. Tía and Tío are gone so fast it feels like the grounds been pulled out from under him.

To add to it, there's suddenly a bunch of bullshit with his dad and custody, him wanting Sonny to leave to move with him in Jersey with his new family in white suburban hell, and Sonny refuses. Sonny wants to do nothing but run away. Since he can’t really do that, he sticks to Pete’s side, constantly at his place unless Usnavi forces him to stay home. 

It’s one of those days, after yet another fight with his father where he threatened to come all the way to the Heights and drag him to Hamilton by the hair, he stormed into Pete’s apartment feeling angry and reckless.

“I wanna have sex with you.”

Pete drops the fork he was using to flip whatever it is he’s got on the stove, his eyebrows raised as he turns to Sonny.

“Mind running that back again?”

“I’ve thought about it, and I want to do it. I know it’s going to be you anyway, so why not get it over with?”

“Wow, that’s romantic,” Pete says, deadpan, “Make a guy feel real great about that shit.”

“Are you not serious about me?”

“Sonshine,” Pete murmurs, his eyes bright and clear as he looks at him, “You know I am. But I also know you’re young, and impulsive as shit, and have a habit of talking yourself into things.”

“So? Who cares? You know I’m going to spend the rest of my life with you.”

Pete lets out a shaky breath, squeezing his eyes closed. It still gets him, Sonny knows this, and apparently is not above using it.

“That’s not fair, you know that.”

“I know, but it’s still true.” 

Pete shakes his head, “Well it might be true, but that shit ain’t happening.”

“Why?” Sonny whines like a child, as if that doesn’t help the whole ‘too young’ thing Pete’s got going on.

"Well, for one, we haven't done anything but kiss."

"And?" They had kissed before, of course, young and eager while in middle school, but it was the kiss at the warehouse that broke the flood gates. They would making out for hours now, either on Pete’s bed or Sonny’s apartment when no one is home, happy and content, because Sonny has a soulmate and Sonny loves that soulmate, even if he doesn’t know yet. They hadn't done anything else, but it was just as much due to privacy as them not being ready.

“And I don’t think this should happen because you’re not doing it for you, or for us, babe. If you were ready, it would've happened by now. You’re clearly doin’ this to prove something to someone in your head. I don’t want that for your first time.”

“What if I don’t care?”

Pete shakes his head, poking whatever it was on the stove, “Well maybe I don’t want that for my first time?”

“ _Oh_ ,” Sonny blinks at him, a little bit stunned, “You’ve never-- but why…?”

Pete just rolls his eyes, “Sonny, I met you at _nine._ "

"But... you could have. I mean there was a point in time where I was just this dorky kid that followed you around and you would go to parties and shit, you could've easily done it then."

Pete runs a hand over his head, "I couldn’t do it. Like sleeping with some girl or guy that isn’t you when you’re my perfect match just ‘cause all my friends are doing that shit? It just seemed wrong to do that to whoever I was sleeping with, and to you.” Pete shrugs, “So do you want to tell me why the both of us not being virgins is suddenly super important?”

Sonny sits down heavily at the kitchen table, the fight and anger suddenly gone in the face of Pete’s logic.

“I just- if the thing with my dad doesn’t work, I want to at least have something-- I mean, I didn’t know you were… saving it, or whatever, so all I could think of was having to be miserable in Jersey without you, and then calling up one day and having it be like ‘hey, you know that guy you’ve basically been planning to spend the rest of your life with? Yeah, he fucked some random and got himself a girlfriend because your dad ain’t shit and got himself another family and decided he wants to parade you around the make the neighborhood think he’s a good father-'”

Pete jerked the pan off the flame with a screech of cast iron on metal, shifting it to a towel the counter before turning to Sonny.

“First off, you haven’t been paying attention if you thought I was gonna go look for someone else because you’re in Jersey. It isn’t Mars, you Pendejo, and you can catch the train and be in Manhattan in like an hour. Secondly, it will work out, I know it.”

“You don’t know-”

“Actually, I do,” Pete winces, “I talked to Benny and Nina, ‘cause I figured if anybody knows about this shit it’s gonna be them, right? And they told me that I can like… register us with the state. So that you’re mine, and shit. And even though I’m only 18, I’ll get a say in what you do or whatever. If you want me to. I mostly thought of it as a last resort, so that’s why I didn’t want to tell you.”

Sonny blinks at him for a moment, frowning. “You can do that when I'm underage?”

“Yeah. We’re not married or anything. It's not a binding contract, it's just saying that we recognize that we're each other's soulmates. To be honest I think it’s mostly so my ass can’t be arrested for fucking around with a minor, but still. Also Nina said it could help when you apply for college and they realize we’re broke.”

“Or when you apply for art school-”

Pete scoffs, “You know I’m not going.”

“You could, though, you’re so good Pete-”

“Nené, I can’t sit in a classroom and have some dumbass tell me about color theory and shit when I could be out using it and getting paid for it. You’re the smart one that’s going to like… become a lawyer and make me his badass trophy husband, hangin’ by the pool shirtless and makin’ the neighborhood wives jealous.”

Sonny laughs, “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“I’m always right,” Pete says with a grin, “Now, do you want some of these arepas…?”

In the end, Pete is right. A few forms, Nina and Benny corroborating their story as proof they are soulmates (because there was no way Usnavi would agree to making it any easier for Pete to get his hands on Sonny, even though Pete wouldn't) and one very harsh phone call from Pete, and he’s never bothered my his father again.


	4. Chapter 4

When the lights go out, Sonny does his best not to panic.

He calls Usnavi, as he usually does when something bad happens with the store, wanting to be the first to say it isn’t his fault. He feels sick to his stomach when he doesn’t pick up. Sonny takes a deep breath, hangs up, and tries again. He’s at the club, with the music, he probably can’t hear. Calling him a few times should do the trick. Except it doesn’t.

He thinks about calling Pete, knowing they're probably out in the same place. The club was notorious for being lax with both drink prices and checking IDs, so Pete had been dragged out with a group of his friends. Sonny's sure Pete would get an earful from Usnavi if he saw him, though, and decides it's probably not worth the lecture about his soulmate drinking, knowing full well Usnavi and Benny used to sneak cheap booze from the store all the time before they hit 21.

He taps his ring on the counter as he listens to the ringing of his fourth call, smiling a little at the nervous habit despite the anxiety from Usnavi not answering. Pete had bought it for him shortly after they registered themselves with the state, his face red and his hands shaking when he gave it to him. He had sworn up and down it didn’t have to mean anything, he had just done some work for a boutique in Red Hook and they had offered him a deal as part of his commission and when he saw the ring it reminded him of Sonny.

If he never corrected people when they called it a wedding ring or mentioned they thought he was young to be married, well… that was for him to know and Pete to figure out.

“Cuz, I know you’re at the club, but the electricity's gone here so I’m closing shit down, ain’t no point in staying open. I’m just gonna go home after, see you later.”

That done, Sonny goes about shoving all the cash in the register into one of the bank deposit bags Usnavi keeps under the counter, locking it and shoving the register key in its hiding place behind the counter before moving the drop it in the safe. He doesn’t count it, but considering there’s no lights he figures Usnavi can’t complain too much over it. He goes through the motions of his normal closing routine, ignoring anything he can’t do without electricity. It all goes fine until he goes to close the grate, and finds it stuck.

He goes back in, defeated, wanting to go home but knowing it’s useless now. He can’t leave the store without the grate, knowing full well some little punk ass kid would be the first to smash the window, not to mention the safe in the back office. He sighs, hoping up on the counter, crossing his arms against his chest.

Pete bursts through the door ten minutes later, red faced and sweaty, looking terrified.

“We need to go,” Pete gasps tugging on him so he slides off the counter, “They’re all looting and shit already, you need to get out.”

“We can’t leave the store, the grate’s broke. If people are looting here won’t be a store if we leave it.”

“There’s isn’t going to be a store if you stay,” Pete hisses, fingernails digging into Sonny’s arms, “you have to go, Nené.”

“The fuck I am-”

“I’ll stay and watch, you get out.”

“You know that’s not happening. Either you go or stay, but I ain’t leaving the store.”

Pete chews his lip, annoyed, before dropping his bag to dig through it, yanking out fireworks.

“Maybe we can distract them or something.”

“You went to the club with roman candles in your bag?”

Pete shakes his head, reaching under the counter for a lighter, “I stashed it before we got in. Do you have anything?”

“’Navi doesn’t keep anything but a baseball bat in the back. Guns make him nervous, not to mention the likelihood of some random ass NYPD doing something stupid to a Latino with-”

“It ain’t the time, Sonshine," Pete cuts him off, stomping into the back. He hands it over, looking more determined than Sonny’s ever seen him.

“You do not do anything stupid. You swing whenever any fucker comes near you. If it gets too crazy, you bolt, and that includes if someone tries to fuck with me, right?”

“But-”

“No, Sonny. You just _go_ , okay? I’m cool with getting my ass kicked, it won’t be the first or last time. You getting attacked is gonna make me do stupid shit, so it’s better for the both of us if you go, right?”

Sonny nods, knowing Pete’s right. His hands are shaking around the bat, his heart going a mile a minute. Pete can tell he’s nervous, and drags him in close, pressing their foreheads together.

“I love you, Sonny,” And Sonny’s heart just about stops because _holy shit_ \- “I’m not gonna let anything happen to you.”

“That’s a shit move Pete.”

Pete just laughs, sprinting out of the store to stand guard.

 _Later,_ he tells himself, _I’ll say it back later._


	5. Chapter 5

There’s another blackout just three weeks after the first, This time with Pete and Sonny together instead of apart. They’re on their way back from picking up food from the Italian place near Pete’s, intent on a quiet night of doing nothing.

“So I guess all hope for a movie is gone.”

Pete shrugs and he lets them into his building and begins trudging up to the fifth floor. Pete can’t say he minds; things had been crazy since Usnavi decided to stay, and with school creeping up for Sonny the thought of having time for just hanging out and talking to each other for once felt amazing.

“I might have something on my laptop but other than that?” Pete shrugs, “boardgames or making out.”

“I mean, I won’t object to either.”

Pete laughs, unlocking the door as they reach his landing, “You just want to beat my ass at Monopoly again.”

Pete hear rather than see Sonny’s smirk as he wandered into the tiny kitchen to get some candles to light, “I can’t help you’re shit with money.”

“Well as someone who complains about capitalism and people being priced out of the neighborhood you’re good as shit at doing it yourself.”

Sonny rolls his eyes, taking one of the candles and setting it on his coffee table. Pete’s studio was nice, but tiny, and with only a few candles the whole place was lit up. Pete began doling out their food, starving after a day spend doing mural work for an elementary school on the upper east side, as Sonny picked at his own.

“I can’t believe you got a salad. Like what kinda boyfriend am I letting you eat that shit?”

“Usnavi’s been cooking since he decided to stay home. I love my cousin, but the only things he knows how to cook is beans and rice or frozen shit. My body is crying out for vegetables, man.”

“Someone needs to tell him this is why you have me and he has Ness. He don’t need to cook shit when we’re here.”

“You my personal chef now?”

Pete brandished his fork at Sonny, “I am an excellent cook,” he flicked it again, attempting to make his point, but only managed to have sauce land on his tank top.

“That’s super romantic, Mr. Ramos,” Sonny grins, “Wine and dine me with sauce on your shirt.” 

Pete rolls his eyes, tugging it over his head and walking to the bathroom to scrub it out in the sink before the grease and tomatoes could stain it. Leaving it to soak he wanders back in, kissing the top of Sonny’s head before dropping down next to him again.

Sonny can’t help but press a kiss to the faded words on the shoulder closest to him. He loves when he gets to see his writing on Pete’s skin.

“I remember cringing when I said this, you know? It was the first thing that popped into my head.”

“I just remember thinking how cute you were when you got embarrassed,” Pete says, slow smile making it’s way to his face.

“Did you even know what cute meant back then?”

Pete snorts, “Babe, you had me thinking you were cute for months. It’s why I punched that guy out.”

Sonny blinks at him, “Wait, what? You knew who I was?”

“Yeah. Not like I had a crush on you, you were just a little kid to me back then,” Pete makes a face that the thought, “I just... used to see you whenever me and Dad would go to the store. I dunno if it was the fact that we’re soulmates or whatever, but I always wanted to talk to you. You always had Usnavi pulling guard duty and standing like three steps behind you, or you Mom or family. Figured they’d think it was weird if I wanted to be your friend ‘cause I was older, so I always just kinda… lurked. When that prick decided he was going to call you a girl for your hair I was pissed because I remembered your mom and you at the store, and I knew she’d just died. She used to-”

“Talk about how much she loved them, yeah,” Sonny bit his lip, feeling a lump in his throat.

“She had the same ones,” Pete smiles down at his food, “I remember thinking how pretty she was, so when he talked shit about them… I dunno. Something set some memory off in my brain, that she had talked about how cute they were sometime when I saw you two at the bodega, and I lost it.”

“She used to get shit for them when she was young, and I think she was trying to make sure I knew someone liked them at least,” Sonny shook his head, “I can’t believe you remember that.”

Pete shrugs, “I remember everything about you Sonshine.”

Sonny doesn’t know what to say to that, so he goes back to his food, the both of them eating quietly. When they’re done, they drop their trash and Sonny tugs him onto the bed, wrapping himself around Pete and resting against his chest. It takes Sonny almost ten minutes before he can raise his head and look Pete in the eye.

“Remember when you said we couldn’t sleep together because it felt like I wasn’t doing it for us?”

Pete, nodded, the smile on his face almost shy as he realized what Sonny was asking for, “Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I am.”

Pete kisses him. Sonny’s surprised when he realizes Pete’s hands are trembling just as much as his own when he flips them over so Sonny’s under him.

“Hey,” Pete says softly, rubbing his hands up and down Sonny’s sides, “It’s just you and me, okay? That’s all that matters.”

Sonny nods, and repeats it in his head like a mantra as their clothing is shed, then as Pete gently opens him up with his fingers, and presses inside of him. It feels so good, and Sonny feels like he’s crawling out of his skin. They start to move together, Sonny’s legs hooked over his shoulders, but too intense, too much for him to handle, and he closes his eyes, one hand cupping the back of Pete’s head, and the other digging into his shoulder, just letting the pleasure wash over him.

 

After, when they've cleaned up and all the candles except for the one on Pete's bedside is out, Sonny can’t help but laugh. He’s sore all over and feels fucking fantastic, but other than that he still feels the same as he ever does when he's curled up around Pete.

Pete shoots him a look and he just grins, kissing his nose.

“I figured I’d feel different about you after, you know? Like more serious, or some shit. That’s why I was holding off and nervous. I didn’t want things to change.”

“And you don't?"

“It meant something, but it wasn’t as huge of a thing. I don’t feel different.”

Pete raises his eyebrows at him.

“It _was_ intense. And I loved how it felt. You know?”

“My dick was just inside you, Sonshine,” Pete says drily, “I know how good it feels.”

“I mean I was expecting to feel different after. Maybe I just love you so it wasn’t going to change too much about us.”

“Maybe.”

“Maybe my second time will be different. Maybe I’ll realize you suck and I need to find another soulmate.”

“Wow, Cariño,” Pete laughs, “really?”

“I won’t know until we try.”

Pete just grins and flips him over, his lips on Sonny’s in an instant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was such a pain in the ass, GOOD GOD. Sex wouldn't come to me at all, and I realized it was mostly because I don't think it would change anything for Sonny. He seems very much the type of person that would love Pete so much that the physical shit wouldn't really change or matter too much to him.
> 
> Also I totally head cannon Pete being an A+ cook but no one believes him, even after eating his food and it being fucking amazing.


	6. Chapter 6

His hands tremble a little as he holds the packet in his hands, terrified as he climbs the apartment stairs.

When he let himself in he’s met with a loud mess of noise; mostly Pete and Usnavi arguing about something or another while the TV’s on and Vanessa cooks in their tiny kitchen. Sonny drops the rest of the pile of mail with a loud thwack, drawing everyone’s attention.

“Mail came,” he croaks, walking into the living room.

“Is that…?” 

He flashes the envelope in his hands, the blue Columbia logo stark enough to grab everyone’s attention. He plants himself on the arm of the couch next to Pete, his legs shaking too much to hold him.

“You have to open it, Son.”

He shakes his head at Usnavi, his eyes never leaving his address printed on the front, “I don’t- What if-”

“It’s a big thick envelope, baby,” Pete says, his arms winding around Sonny’s waist, “You know you’re chances are good.”

“You won’t know if you don’t open it,” Vanessa supplies, coming in from the kitchen, “And you got into Ithaca, so if this doesn’t work out it’s not the end of the world.”

Sonny hands it over to Pete, who slides his finger under the flap, before handing it back. Sonny thinks of his Mama for the first time in what feels like forever, kissing his forehead and murmuring into his hair that maybe, if he works hard, he can go to college like the kids they always saw on the train when they went downtown to her job. It’s that thought that he clings to as he slides the contents of the envelope out, reading thought the letter on top, addressed to Santiago De La Vega.

His lungs don’t want to work as he reads it over for a second and then third time, unsure if what he’s seeing is a joke.

“Sonny?”

“I got in,” Sonny whispers, his hands trembling, “I- fuck, ‘Navi, I qualify for the financial aid and everything-”

Usnavi tears it out of his hands as Vanessa squeaks out a loud ‘What,’ and Sonny looks at Pete. Tears are pouring down his cheeks and he looks ridiculously happy, practically beaming.

“I love you so much,” is all Pete says, and Sonny’s throat doesn’t want to work so he just kisses him.


	7. Chapter 7

“One semester, babe,” Pete had said, smacking a kiss to his forehead as they lie in bed one Saturday, “You should at least try to have a typical college experience. I’m going to see you when you’re at work at the store or I go down anyway. It ain’t that far.”

And that’s how, instead of sharing Pete’s studio, flopping on the couch after his first day of classes, he finds himself pushed into a group of fellow freshman by his dorm floor’s RA, sitting around in a circle in their cramped common room running through ice breaker questions and eating free pizza.

Fifteen minutes in to this lame game, Jenny from Denver waves her card with a smile full of perfect white teeth that only can come from braces.

“What would you do if you bumped into your Soulmate at a party?”

They all go through their answers, some of them lame, some of them more realistic. When they finally get to Sonny, he just shrugs.

“It all depends. If I know he’s coming then it’s hello, hi, how are you baby, whatever. If I don’t, ask him why the hell he’s down here, since I know his ass never leaves the barrio unless he’s got a commission happening. Knowing him, he’d be here trying to scam someone out of alcohol at some party.”

The tiny Asian girl next to him (Mara?) looks at him with wide eyes, her mouth falling open a little, “You have yours already?”

Sonny shrugs again, “Since I was six.”

They all demand his story then and he laughs, telling them about the fight with the kid over his hair, then their kiss in the stairwell; being registered with the state and as good as married at 15 and all but living in each other’s back pockets.

Tony from Chicago sighs from his spot across for him, tugging at the pastel pink fringe in front of his eyes, “Christ, you’re lucky.”

Sonny just smiles, because yeah, he really is.


End file.
